College Tennis Questions

F

FP9

New User
Hey guys...
I am a Junior playing varsity 3rd doubles on a traditionally strong team, though we wont win states we will probably be in the mix this year.
I am not looking at colleges for tennis, but I was still hoping to play as a walk on just to continue playing through college.
I have a preliminary list of colleges and was wondering which I could make the team as walk on as. Meaning that they aren't necessarily strong programs...
If you know anything about the programs that would be greatly appreciated!

Connecticut
- UCONN

Georgia
- Emory

Indiana
- Indiana University ~ Bloomington
- Notre Dame

Maryland
- Maryland ~ College Park

Massachusetts
- Babson
- Boston U
- Boston C
- U Mass (Amherst)
- Northeastern

Michigan
- U of Michigan
- Michigan State

New York
- NYU

North Carolina
- UNC ~ Chapel Hill
- Wake
- NC State
- Elon

Pennsylvania
- UPenn
- Carnegie Mellon
- Pitt
- Lehigh
- Drexel

Virginia
- UVA
- Richmond
- William and Mary

Wisconsin
- Wisconsin (Madison)

Washington DC
- GWU
- Georgetown (Early Action)
- American
 
Are you a guy or girl? The only information I can give that may help is that UMASS (Amherst) doesn't have a men's tennis team anymore. It is a good school though.
 
All-purpose answer (this should be a sticky): Compare your tennisrecruiting.net ranking to the players from recent years who play at these schools. That will give you an idea.
 
I'm going to bold what I think next to each school.

FP9 said:
Connecticut
- UCONN easier than most D-1 schools, from what I've heard, but still very hard to make the team

Georgia
- Emory one of the top D-3 schools, not so sure about how good they are though

Indiana
- Indiana University ~ Bloomington a top 25 school.
- Notre Dame another very good team that has been ranked inside the top 10.

Maryland
- Maryland ~ College Park

Massachusetts
- Babson
- Boston U heard they're strong
- Boston C good team
- U Mass (Amherst)
- Northeastern

Michigan
- U of Michigan heard that they're very very good
- Michigan State fairly good

New York
- NYU

North Carolina
- UNC ~ Chapel Hill
- Wake top 10 in the country
- NC State
- Elon

Pennsylvania
- UPenn a very good team
- Carnegie Mellon
- Pitt
- Lehigh
- Drexel

Virginia
- UVA the best team in the country, regardless of what Fedace says.
- Richmond
- William and Mary

Wisconsin
- Wisconsin (Madison)

Washington DC
- GWU
- Georgetown (Early Action) from what I hear they're decent, but still a hard team to make
- American
Click to expand...
 
Here's what I know

Georgia
- Emory - Imagine going to college in the heart of a metropolis like Atlanta. You better be prepared for urban life. Otherwise Emory is tough, especially academically! We personally know a man on the team. He is smart beyond belief, steet sense & book sense.

North Carolina
- UNC ~ Chapel Hill = look at who is on that team. Do you really want to be with that crowd?
- Wake = stellar tennis program. Parallel to Furman (sister school), but again, these are scarry-smart students. You have to have a really high GPA and it costs about $54K/year!
- Something wrong with Davidson or Wilmington?
Virginia
- William and Mary = seemed good

What was your criteria? A certain degree?
 
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Indiana is recruiting hard working athletes and anticipating they will improve their games. The campus is beautiful, the curriculum as challenging as you want it and the amount of pretty coeds has to be seen to be believed (and I moved here from Southern California so know what Im talking about!)
 
Not really concerned about the academic value of the school, as I have looked into each of them on my list and fit in academically to all of them. I was just looking for any info anyone had solely on the tennis team.
If I had the choice between two equal schools, but one I could potentially play tennis on as a walk-on, I would pick that one.
I dont need to be on a winning team, just a team that I could make so I could keep playing tennis into my 20s
 
Look for a team in that has finished at or near the bottom of its conference for a few years in a row and contact them.
 
Just saw a tennis recruiting card in the mail from coach at UCONN- They do not not offer scholarships.

The rest of the teams on your list, Vs. your outline-
In general, I would suggest "Snap out of it".

Like the guy said in earlier post- Run your finger thru TENNISRECRUITING.COM and compare rosters to your personal information entry in same- A clear pattern will begin to appear.... Just like Mr. EIGHT BALL

Oh, and like you have mentioned- Since you are that smart, and you know you won't major in Tennis, you will make as much in a work/study program in your field of interest as you would with what would be offered to you on a tennis scholarship-
The players at the teams you mentioned may not have the same academic or life interests as you may have.
You want to kill your grades for any post degree opportunities? Tennis team should help you there.

Research Coach Carter's posts with the attached N.Y. Newspaper articles about just what you are wishing for- You may accidentially get it.
There are a least two dozen smaller schools (DI) where you could fit nicely... Look up MENS TEAMS on left side of TENNISRECRUITING.com and find a scholastic fit AND a tennis fit.
 
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No offense but if you are playing 3rd doubles in high school you got no shot at getting onto those D1 teams.

I was a nationally ranked USTA junior and all the usual jazz that soooo many players have. I played at a top D3 school and the level is high there even

This is b/c of all the foreigners who don't make it coming to play in America so tennis is pretty stacked unless you go to a lower down D3 school.

We played Carnegie Mellon, Kenyon, Wash U and other top D3 teams and these teams are stacked with nationally ranked juniors in America. Some of the D1 schools you mention have top nationally ranked players in America and upwards. Unless your high school team is beyond amazing your best bet is to try and play D3 tennis at one of the non top 35 schools where the level gets lower and lower gradually.

Sorry if i sound pessimistic just trying to be realistic.

Good luck going to college.
 
If you aren't familiar with USTA tennis and need to compare your stats. I was 58-1 in high school regular season tennis at #1 all 4 years at a school that wasn't that good at tennis. I never won states, but I went pretty far. This is in Ohio, which is reasonably tough tennis wise.
 
I too would consider looking at some low level D1 schools that finish at the bottom of their respective conferences, mid-low level D2 schools or even an NAIA school... there is at least a tad bit of money in these three! Good Luck

BTW IU is a tough team. I played at IPFW and we got spanked EVERY YEAR!
 
Wow, I was going to make a thread about this, but this covers everything :shock: Even some of the schools haha.

Though I am aiming for club tennis at some of the DI tennis schools, or DIII tennis, such as Emory. Very cool.
 
It seems that you have a pretty wide range of schools in terms of location. As many other have said here, it is very hard to walk on some of the schools you have listed here, like BC, UPENN, Notre Dame, etc.

But there are some like Boston U. that is DI school and I know for a fact their team is not that strong. They are going through a rebuilding phase, and I'm sure you could walk on that team and in fact make a positive impact on the team. That is depending on your level of tennis and commitment once you get there.

If all you want is to be able to join a decent team, I'm sure that most smaller colleges, which most often offer great education, will allow you to walk on as long as you are willing to really be part of the team and give your best and help the team improve in any way possible. Coaches don't always look for players to perform on the court, but often look for players who can complement and balance the team in a positive way that can help them get through a long season, and maintain a positive attitude on and off the court.

Good luck with your search.

Let us know where you end up.
 
I am a college tennis coach at Drew in New Jersey, a D3 college. I played on my h.s. team, but wasn't a starter, although we were top 10 in the state. I was a walk on at Delaware. Its not easy to go from not being a starter in h.s. to playing D1, but there are many programs at the D1 level that are on the weaker side. Trust me when I tell you that unless you are highly ranked as a junior, nearly all the D1 schools that you mentioned you won't have a chance. Some schools don't even have tryouts for walk-ons. Connecticut is certainly on the weaker side of D1. Now, getting to D3. Emory is almost always top 5 in the country in D3, which makes them better than a school like U Conn at tennis. NYU, since we play them, I can say is a school that may be realistic. They are regionally ranked, but are probably at their weakest now. They are a good team, but one of the negatives of being in a major city is access to court time.

My suggestion: Do your research. Go to matches of the team or similar level teams to give you an idea of what the competition is like. If you know of people who are your level who are older, see where they went and where they play. Do you want to play college tennis where you start? Do you want to just be a member of a team with a name? Some people want to be #1 on a lower level team (big fish, small pond), and others want to be in the middle so they are safe, but get challenged. Ask if the head coach is full or part time. Do they have assistant coaches who are at every practice. DO AN OVERNIGHT. This is the best way to learn about the college and the guys on the team. Take a look at Drew. We have won our conference now 9 straight years. Next year, we go to nationals. We have very good academics and the coaching is excellent.
 
Emory will have a bunch of 5.0+ players on their team. Officiated SCAC Tournament 2 weeks ago and the Top 2 Teams, DePauw and Trinity were 4.5-5.0+ players and they are only ranked Top 15, while Emory is Top 5 so expect tough competition there, but you could easily wlak-on and make practice team and maybe play.
 
tennismom42 said:
North Carolina
- UNC ~ Chapel Hill = look at who is on that team. Do you really want to be with that crowd?
[/B]
Click to expand...

tennismom42:

Replying late, but just wondering what you mean by the UNC team? Just curious what "that crowd" means. I know one of the players, and he always seemed like a good kid. Another of the players worked privately with one of my son's former coaches during the summer between his junior & senior year. Never met him personally.

I have heard of several of the players, but don't know them nor have I seen them play. Do they have bad reps?
 
You're probably not going to get a real chance to walk on at alot of these schools. For example, I know a kid who played 2nd singles at a D3 school who the UConn coach wouldn't even give a tryout, and UConn is one of the worst teams one your list.

Consider club tennis and intramurals at these schools- ask about them on your visits. Check out the courts, how many do they have, what condition are they in, do they have indoor facilities on campus (remember you're going to be there from September-May so it'll be pretty lousy outside especially in the North East and Mid-West.
Club: Most club tennis teams practice weekly to several times a week, and have regular matches where you'll get more pt than the varsity walk ons without having to deal with the 5 am lifting sessions that varsity players do. Plus its a great way to make friends and meet girls.
 
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